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WR Pena swaps orange for blue and white, but Fran Brown delivers warning to poachers

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said he won't back down from schools that try poaching his players following 21 athletes entering the Transfer Portal after 2024.
BySydney Ciano|
Penn State football wide receiver Trebor Pena
Penn State football wide receiver Trebor Pena | Scott Taetsch/GettyImages

After the 2024 season, 21 players from Syracuse entered the Transfer Portal and left the program. Of them was wide receiver Trebor Pena. Now, head coach of the Orange, Fran Brown, shared a very direct message for schools across the country that try to tamper with his team and poach players out of his program.

"I don’t care, but don’t let me find out and then I’ll see you. Cause I ain’t no b****," Brown said on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast. ". . . Like I’m gonna come at you like ‘What’s up?’ I’m gonna see you."

Of those 21 players that transferred out from the Orange last season was wide receiver Trebor Pena. Pena committed to Penn State football on April 26. During his last year at Syracuse as a junior, he recorded 84 receptions for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. He added an additional 12 carries for 72 yards and one touchdown.

“They had a lot of guys returning and they were a playoff team, a Final Four team,” Pena said, according to Penn State Nittany Lions On SI at the time of the his commitment. “I just wanted to be in the best position to succeed.” 

The wide receiver was a late commitment in the spring, announcing his decision on the day of the Blue-White Spring Game. He was one of three new wideouts to come to Happy Valley to help quarterback Drew Allar in the pass game. Troy transfer Devonte Ross and USC transfer Kyron Hudson completed the trio and have since proved themselves useful on offense early in the 2025 season.

So far for the Nittany Lions, who are 3-0 heading into their bye week after beating Villanova in Week 3, Pena already tallied 13 receptions for 166 yards and one score. The wideout also has five carries for 46 yards on his Penn State resume as well.

As for Syracuse, it recently beat UConn in overtime, 27-20, on Sept. 6, which Brown was not pleased with. The Orange hold a 2-1 record heading into Week 4's contest agains Clemson. They lost to Tennessee in Week 1, 45-25, and followed it up with two wins, the second being an easy victory over Colgate, 66-24.

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